Friday, June 20, 2008

Unemployment rates in California hit 6.8% during the month of May -- the 5th worst in the country and certainly a huge spike of 1.5 percentage points from just a year ago. From an L.A. Times story:

California's unemployment rate jumped in May to 6.8%, its highest level in almost five years, reflecting the continued loss of construction and finance jobs in the wake of the real estate collapse. The state Employment Development Department reported today that joblessness rose six-tenths of a percentage point from last month and a dramatic 1.5 percentage points higher than a year earlier...California's May unemployment rate was the fifth highest in the nation, behind Michigan, Rhode Island, Alaska and Mississippi, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics... The report said California posted a net loss of 10,900 jobs in May from the month before, mostly in construction...The employment scene, though mostly grim, is not all bad. Congress is expected to extend unemployment benefits to nine months from six, and the president is likely to sign the measure into law by July 4, said Andrew Stettner, deputy director of the National Employment Law Project, a research and advocacy group for lower-wage workers. And some industries gained jobs statewide since April, adding a net 9,000 jobs, including in education and health services, natural resources and mining and information.